the reason for this is that my host family doesn:t have internet. XDI:m currently using a computer in the hotel i:m staying in in Tokyo. I have a lot of entries typed up , but this PC can:t take USB drive.I promise I will upload all of them and photos if I somehow get a good connection.Sorry to all of you--I:m okay! :D and miss you!!

Note: All these posts following with are, obviously, pictures that I have and will upload once I get a decent wifi source.

Yep!

I am currently using the only wifi connection known to all the YFU students right now... lucky me :D

6:04 AM

Everyone living in California really needs to appreciate this beautiful sky and landscape they can wake up to every morning.

This is at 6 in the morning, mind you! I would be so much more motivated to go to school if it was like this every day, haha. It usually doesn't start looking like this until at least... 6:30 in Michigan? If not later.

Today's schedule is pretty packed...

(and I never finished this)

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10:08PM

We had huge amounts of lessons and such today. Our entire day is crammed full... which is great :D it's amazing how long I feel like I've been here... Finally feel like I'm actually in California and I'm leaving in two days ;___;

Radio exercises (ラヂオ対ソ） in the morning:

After WWII, the Japanese government wanted to create a system of boosting morale, community bonding and such in its citizens (as well as encouraging physical wellness, of course!)

The exercises are essentially a series of timed stretches set to the wonderful beat of a man saying "いち、に、さん、し。。。” so on and so forth. Example video with way more people here!

Call me a nerd but they are actually somewhat fun... it's kind of amusing to see 60 other people doing the same exuberant movements as you XD

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In the afternoon, we discussed our homestay experiences (I think I'm going to discuss this in a later post), and then practiced Japanese.

I know I mentioned my uncertainty about this in my Day 1 post, but I somehow got into the advanced class o___o

けいこ先生, our teacher, is a native Japanese speaker from大阪, Osaka! :DD Her accent is very good, as a result.

We just learned some basics: parts of the body, time, days of week/month, et cetera.

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We also played a game called bafa bafa. The premise sounds pretty simple, but actually playing the game was really fun XD

Our kumis represented different cultures, with completely different ways of associating, trading money, and values.

(for example, my kumi placed huge value on money and we spoke a language solely based on phonetic sounds... to trade. on the other hand, another kumi was a outspoken, patriarchal society with much physical contact, little notion of personal space, and less emphasis on the value of hard currency)

We sent three rounds of ambassadors between the two kumi rooms, mirroring our own exchanges, and it was definitely amusing to see the perceptions of one culture by another.

It'll be impossible for me to completely understand Japan, I realize that... but looking up current events and understanding the psychology behind the societal workings will help.

I want to make sure to not eliminate the human element behind all this though. Cultures do not operate simply by a set of rules... those rules are simply norms and guidelines.

The individuals themselves are the ones who make the decisions, with the norms in place to show precedent... which is usually followed as the outcomes for choosing those paths are known...

Getting a little too in-depth right now, sorry! I have a post on tis that I will type on the plane, when I have a clear head and time to thing ^0^

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After dinner, we had our two culture workshops :D

Since I picked karaoke and taiko drumming, both were rather musical. I have videos for both, which will go up velly velly soon.

...and right now I'm taking full advantage of my limited wifi connection! :)

Tomorrow is our last full day of PDO, and I really will miss it.

I have met so many people here... it's my dear wish that I will be able to see them again after Tuesday (stay in JP for 1 night).

...and yet, it's just the beginning! I really am unable to wrap my head around it right now... even after I've heard so much about it, it's almost unreal that I'm going there. In two days. AHHHH!

After arriving at Berkeley, I signed up for two culture workshops. There were Haiku, Karaoke, Taiko, Takoyaki, and Sports Festival to choose from, but by the time I got there, only Karaoke, Taiko, and Sports Festival were open. I picked the two musical ones, haha :)

I also got my room key and a language evaluation... I had no idea it was coming o__o but I guess I'll find out how that works out tomorrow.

I also got my kumi!!

It is basically be my home group for the next 2-3 days... and I'm happy to announce that my kumi is amazing :DD

I am in 青い(blue) kumi. We have a flag that says 青侍 (blue samurai) on it! :D It's very majestic.

The other colors of kumi are 紫 purple, 刀 (katana) silver (we call them gray though XD), and 赤い red. We've already established that 青い kumi wins though.

At what, you may ask?

...you'll see :)

We ate dinner in the very spacious and beautiful UC Berkeley Dining Hall:

... in which I pigged out while somehow sleeping simultaneously.

Afterwards, we saw a slideshow on Japan in general, which made me even more excited to leave on Monday... mental convulsions of joy.

After that, I went back to my room, cleaned up some loose ends, and hit the bed :D

BLEAARGH!UCBerkeley has... no good wifi for non students ;___;I don't blame them for that, though. It's completely justified.

I'll be posting pictures and all that later, then. This is just kind of an excuse for my hiatus...

Today was our first full day of YFU Japan PreDeparture Orientation O___O I am writing up long posts and stuff like that (have taken at least 100 photos since I got here!) but those will come later, when I actually have a valid wifi source ;___;

Just a summary: did taiko drumming on trash cans, legit radio calisthenics, sang old Japanese boy band songs, and ate many things, such as strawberries (as Tanya is narrating to me right now)

Kaytlin and Heemy are also in this extremely overheated computer room...I know these names don't make any sense, but I will explain later. I think. Yes. I will.

Sorry I am incoherent... tomorrow is our last full day in the US and I am absolutely sure there will be a lot to type later :D